UN has few options in stopping Syrian ‘war crimes’

Russia and Syria faced a growing chorus of international condemnation over their actions in Aleppo, but UN officials conceded Thursday there was little they could do beyond shaming the two countries for what they are increasingly calling “war crimes.”

UN humanitarian chief Stephen O’Brien told the Security Council that with the Syrian army’s encirclement, eastern Aleppo has descended into the “merciless abyss of humanitarian catastrophe,” with 275,000 additional Syrians now being besieged.

“Besiegement it’s not a weapon of war, it is a flagrant, unjustifiable breech of the law — law which the besieging parties have signed up to,” O’Brien said. “Even if not today, one day there will be no hiding place for the individuals and institutions callously, cynically perpetrating these war crimes.”

He said the total number of besieged people in Syria had climbed to 861,200, up from 586,000 just weeks ago.

Attempts to take action at the UN to end Syria’s civil war, now in its sixth year, have repeatedly failed because Russia, Syria’s close ally, is one of the Security Council’s five veto-wielding members.

Without naming countries, UN chief Ban Ki-moon said “those using ever more destructive weapons know exactly what they are doing — they know they are committing war crimes.” The Syrian government announced the offensive to retake rebel-held eastern Aleppo, and the only countries carrying out airstrikes are Syria and Russia.